Of Being Dad
by cmcj
Summary: Random oneshot. 27 year old Danny's left at home to deal with his rambunctious 4 year old twins while Sam visits her Grandma in hospital. But it's nothing he can't handle... right? Yes, there's DxS, of course.


**Okay, this is just something really random that I did. I came up with this and typed it out all in one day... didn't even write it down first, but I'll say I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. (Else I wouldn't be posting this here... heheh...) I wouldn't exactly say there's alot of conflict or even plot, but... enjoy anyway!**

**Danny Phantom and all related characters are owned by Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I only own the story and Derek and Sierra Fenton. :)**

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Of Being Dad

"I AM THE FRIGHT KNIGHT! TREMBLE BEFORE MY SOUL SHREDDER! I SHALL SEND EVERYONE TO A WORLD WHERE THEIR WORST FEARS COME TO LIFE!"

Four-year-old Sierra Fenton hopped onto the armchair of the living room couch, brandishing her weapon - a "sword" made out of two old kitchen rolls joined together - at her twin brother, blue eyes twinkling in excitement.

"Not if _I_ can help it!" Young Derek Fenton hollered back, before pouncing on his sister, letting out a roar as he did so. Both tumbled off the couch, locked in playful combat and wrestle, laughing as they played.

Twenty-seven-year-old Danny Fenton, in the kitchen doing the dishes from lunch, barely managed to hear the phone ring above all the ruckus his two children were making. Sighing, he dried off one soap-sudded hand and reached for the cordless, pressing the button for "answer" and cradling it between his neck and chin before returning to his washing.

"Hello?"

"Hey," came Samantha Fenton's voice.

At that precise moment Danny noticed a flash of bright green from behind. "Hang on," he told his wife over the phone, then turned to yell over his shoulder.

"HEY! No powers in the house! Remember?"

The flashes stopped - but not before a loud crash was heard.

Sam Fenton - formerly Sam Manson, cringed at the noise and held her cell phone a small distance away from her ear. "Is everything okay down there?"

"The one day where they're the MOST hyper, and you _had_ to leave the house," her husband's voice complained. "And it does NOT help that I woke up with a headache this morning."

"I know - I'm sorry... Grandma's cancer... they've confirmed a relapse."

Danny winced inwardly at his wife's tone. He knew she loved her grandmother - very much. The call had come early in the morning, and she'd rushed off to the hospital. "Sorry," he apologized gently. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah... she'll be better after some rest. I'll be home in about a couple of hours." Sam glanced at her watch as she exited her grandmother's ward, walking briskly down the hospital corridoor, her black skirt fluttering slightly out behind her along with her deep raven hair - still chin-length, though she hardly sported her small ponytail on top anymore.

Another crash. "AND NO JUMPING ON THE FURNITURE!" Danny shouted, before turing his attention back to her and groaning into the receiver. "A _couple_?"

Sam couldn't help but laugh. "What's the matter? Lost your touch? I thought _you're_ the better one when it comes to handling them,"

"I honestly don't know. They had to choose _this_ day to go overboard. Maybe it's just me, but I'm SURE they've never been this bad before."

"Well... nothing you can't handle, right?" Sam allowed herself a knowing smirk. Though she knew their children loved them both, Danny was, most of the time, the natural with them. There were times though, when the twosome got so out of hand that _both_ she and Danny had some trouble dealing with them. Nevertheless, Danny would always boast, after they'd managed to calm the children down, that they were nothing he couldn't handle.

"Yeah... I hope," Danny muttered from his end, glancing over his shoulder to check that the twins weren't doing anything - or rather, anything _else_ dangerous. He was seriously beginning to wonder if there'd come a time when he wouldn't be able to handle them at all.

He heard Sam laugh lightly. "I'm sure you can take care of it. But I'll try to get home soon, okay?"

"The sooner, the better," he grumbled.

She laughed again. "Alright. I love you,"

"I love you more," He replied, unable to stop himself from grinning despite the stress he was feeling.

"I'm not going to try to argue with that." She smiled over the other end.

"No?" he teased.

Sam laughed once more. "No. See you,"

"Bye," Danny clicked off the phone and put it aside, before finally drying off his hands. He'd use the dishwasher to make things easier, but he'd only cooked for the three of them, and using it would be a waste of water - not that they couldn't afford it anyway. But well, considering what Sam was like when it came to these things...

He sighed again, then turned and exited the kitchen.

Now to find out what on earth they were up to...

"Ha! BEWARE! I AM THE BOX GHOST!" Derek was the playing the villain now, hovering above the sofa in his ghost mode.

Danny and Sam had had similar jumpsuits made for the two children once they'd shown signs that they'd inherited Danny's powers, at the age of two - though as of the moment, they could only turn invisible, intangible, and shoot ectoplasmic rays. Flying? Well, they still needed to learn how to fully gain their balance.

Danny would put aside time to train and teach them on a regular basis, but if they got cheeky, they'd start using the powers in their everyday play as well.

And though Sierra was half-ghost just like her father, her fraternal twin hadn't been as lucky in genetics. His powers tended to fade on and off from time to time - as such, they'd termed him a quartera.

"I HAVE COME TO RESUME MY RULE ON ALL THINGS CARDBOARD AND SQUARE!" Derek continued yelling gleefully.

"Oh please," Sierra mocked, rolling her eyes before transforming into ghost mode herself. Twin blue rings enveloped her, and her blue eyes turned green, her shoulder-length ebony hair, currently up in two messy pigtails, turned white. Her clothes were instantly replaced by a black and silver-white jumpsuit.

Danny shook his head, smiling to himself as he walked into the living room. For four-year-olds, they had an impressive memory. Now if only they memorized their multiplication tables just as well as they did lines from the stories about the ghosts he'd fought before, which he and Sam sometimes told them.

But before Sierra could do anything else, her twin wavered in the air, losing his balance and flopping down onto the couch, returning human as he did so.

"Aw _man_!" Derek complained, sitting up and rubbing his arm. His own green eyes and silver-white hair had changed back to normal - blue eyes and jet black hair identical to his sister's. "It ALWAYS happens at the good part!" Apparently, his powers had decided to fade off again.

"Too bad!" Cried his sister, jumping on him and tackling him onto his back, giggling.

"Hey!" Derek fought back, pushing her roughly off. Both fell from the couch and onto the carpeted floor, locked in combat once again.

"Make sure you two don't hurt each other," Danny warned as he bent down to pick up the mess they'd created in the short time while he'd been on the phone. They'd evidently knocked into the bookshelf - the books were all over the place now - and had overturned the coffee table.

He supposed it was good that they loved rough and tumble... after all, if they were going to grow up to battle ghosts like him, they'd have to adapt to alot of harsh treatment.

But... "Urgh," He groaned when he surveyed the mess again. It looked like a tornado had swept through their living room. Another sharp pang shot through his head just then, causing him to cringe. He was quite sure it was turning into migraine.

Shaking his head to clear it, he returned to his tidying.

"_Hyah_!" Meanwhile, Derek had just managed to push his twin sister off himself. He got up to run, subsequently forgetting the house rules in his excitement, and, laughing, clambered on top of the rocking chair in the corner.

The chair, however, tipped too far back at his weight and the inbalance - the four-year-old boy was standing on it - and toppled over.

Derek let out a startled yelp just as the chair crashed.

Danny jumped at the noise, another pang piercing his head as he did so. Unable to hold back any longer, he opened his mouth and screamed. "I SAID _NO_ CLIMBING ON THE _FURNITURE_!"

This time it was so loud that the ground actually trembled, and the framed pictures on the walls shook, threatening to fall off. Danny's shout had bordered on a ghostly wail, one of his most powerful elements.

His children immediately stopped, stunned stiff, staring at him in shocked silence. Sierra quietly returned to her human form, standing next to her brother. They'd never heard their father yell that loudly before.

Danny took one look at them and instantly regretted losing his patience. He walked over and stooped down to their level, squatting down in front of them, one hand massaging his aching forehead.

"Look..." He began wearily. "I know you love playing around like that, and I want you to have fun too, but Daddy has a headache now, and he would really like it if you two could co-operate and listen to him, alright?"

"Sorry Daddy," Derek said meekly. "I guess I kinda forgot."

"Yeah, we're sorry," Sierra agreed quietly, a waver in her young voice. Both bottom lips had started to tremble.

"Aww... it's okay, it's okay." Danny reassured, putting his arms around the two of them. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to lose my temper like that. Daddy's sorry."

"It's okay Daddy," Sierra murmured as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"We still love you," Derek added.

Danny laughed. "Thanks. I love you too." He gave both his daughter and son an affectionate squeeze, before pulling away and looking them firmly in the eye. "Now - no jumping on the furniture, and I think it'd be better if you two stay in human mode and play. I don't want either of you to get hurt. Okay?"

Two pairs of big, imploring blue eyes the exact same shade of blue as his stared obediently back at him. "Okay," Both answered softly at the same time.

Oh, it was impossible to stay mad at them for long... Danny smiled and grabbed the twins in another quick hug before setting them down and turning back to tidy up the place.

"Daddy?" He felt a tug at his jeans. Sierra looked up at him, smiling. "I don't think we want to play anymore."

"Can we help you clean up?" Derek finished for her, smiling up at his father as well.

A grin flooded across Danny's face, his heart warming at the sight of the two sweet four-year-olds. How could he not love them? "Sure," He answered, still grinning.

"And you know what? I think I'll make an exception this time. Lesson six: How to use your powers to tidy the house."

* * *

Sam slid the key into the lock, opening the front door. The twins didn't seem to be causing as much trouble as they had earlier when she'd been on the phone with Danny. Had they still been doing so, she'd probably have heard them from halfway up the driveway. 

Sure enough, she found Danny asleep on the couch, his head tilted slightly back, snoring softly. In his arms and snuggled into his chest was Sierra, and leaning against his shoulder was Derek, both sound asleep as well.

The television was switched on, screening a rerun of Sesame Street. Smiling to herself, she crossed the room as quietly as she could, then took the remote and turned off the tube, before gazing lovingly at her family again.

It wasn't difficult to see the strong resemblance of Danny in his son. Derek, even at four, was already almost an exact replica of his father - even the way he snored was the same.

_They do it in the same timing too, _she noted silently, smiling as she watched the two snoozing.

Even Sierra, though she had her mother's fair complexion and most of Sam's facial features, shared Danny's soft blue eyes and cheeky spunk. Derek, however, was already showing signs of taking after his mother's calm and cool personality - though as a rambunctious kid who was always roughing it out with his sister, it was still a little difficult to tell for sure.

Whatever the situation, the two were as close as ever, and nothing, Sam was sure, could ever separate them. As for Danny and herself... well, however much of a handful their two children could be, they loved them to bits - almost just as much as they loved each other.

Oh yes, she loved him... _so_ much. He hadn't really changed since high school... sure, he was taller now - as was she, but he was still the same, funny, klutzy, skinny and affectionate best friend she'd known since preschool.

Unable to help herself, Sam leaned over and gave her husband a gentle kiss on the side of his head.

"Mmrph..." He stirred at her touch. Blue eyes half-opened sleepily to stare at her as a dopey smile formed on his face.

Sam grinned. "I see you still managed to get things under control," She remarked softly, so as not to wake the children. Her violet eyes scanned the room. Everything was neat and clean - almost sparkling, in fact. Certainly not what she'd expected to come home to after hearing all that noise over the phone.

"I had a little help," Danny grinned back as he motioned toward the sleeping twins. "I nearly brought down the house - quite by accident - but they were little angels after that." He shrugged. "It's not like ghost powers couldn't fix the mess anyway,"

Laughing softly at his comment, Sam kissed him again, this time on the cheek. "Then I think you're ready to hear why I was a couple of hours longer."

He let out a small snort, not really wanting to guess. "Why?"

Sam tried to bite back another grin - without much success. "I had an appointment with our gynae... to... confirm a few things."

Blue eyes flew wide open in shock. "You can't be serious."

Sam's grin widened. "I most certainly am." She placed a hand on her abdomen. "Say hello to number three."

"Oh..." Danny groaned, shutting his eyes. "_No_..."

Laughter then escaped both of them as he inclined his head and they locked lips in a soft, sweet kiss.

"Just kidding," Danny grinned as he pulled away, reaching out with his free hand to tuck a lock of her raven hair behind her ear. "That's wonderful news. I'd love another one."

Sam laughed and ruffled his own black hair, knowing what was coming next.

"Besides... I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle."

THE END

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**Finished! Yay! How'd ya'll like it? Let me know! A pleased reviewer always makes my day!**

**-FBG**


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